The North Texas track and field team wrapped up their three-day stint in California after competing in three separate meets. The Byran Clay Invitational was hosted by Azusa Pacific took place on Thursday. The Mean Green competed in the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate the next day on Friday. North Texas disseminated to compete in three meets on Saturday – those meets included the Bryan Clay Invitational, the Long Beach Invitational and the Mt. SAC Relays.
“Great weekend for our team,” director of track and field Carl Sheffield said in a press release. “The meets we competed in provided outstanding competition for our group. Our confidence is improving in preparation for the conference meet.”
After the conclusion of the first two days in California, sophomore Jack Beaumont established a new personal time after clocking 9:25.89 as his final mark in the 3,000 meter steeplechase race. Cassidy Adams finished the 3,000-meter steeplechase race with a time of 11:22.20. Junior Alex Cleveland also set a new personal record after finishing with a time of 14:54.55 in the 5,000 meter run. Florian Lussy clocked a final time of 14:26.84 in the 5,000 meter run.
On Friday, during the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate, sophomore thrower Haley Walker competed in the discus part of the competition, throwing 47.78 meters. Fellow thrower sophomore Jaleisa Shaffer threw for 44.64 meters in the discus as well as threw for a mark of 13.64 meters in shot put. Freshmen throwers Kendal Maples and Chris Samaniego competed in shot put as well with Maples setting a mark of 13.87 meters and Samaniego throwing for 13.70 meters.
Sophomore Jaleisa Shaffer throws a shot put during practice at UNT’s new practice facility. Image by: Kara Dry.
Sophomore thrower Jaleisa Shaffer recorded a personal best as well as a first-place winning mark of 14.75 meters in shot put during the Mt. SAC Relays. Fellow sophomore thrower Haley Walker competed in shot put as well and threw for a mark of 12.96 meters. Samaniego threw again that day and marked a distance of 14.42 meters. When it came to discus, junior thrower Karl Sralla recorded a distance of 50.36 meters. Maples and Shaffer also competed in discus and finished with marks of 43.16 meters and 45.61 meters.
On Saturday, North Texas dispersed into three different track and field meets. Freshmen runners Antonio Delacruz and Davonye Jones set new career running times in the 100-meter dash. Delacruz’s time was set at 10.47 seconds and Jones’ ending with a time of 10.53 seconds. Sophomore runners Aneesa Scott and Taylor Blackshire established their fastest times in the 200-meter dash with Scott finishing with a time of 23.43 seconds and Blackshire’s time being 24.33 seconds.
Sophomore runner Joseph Squire competed in the 110-meter hurdles, setting a final time of 14.76, similar to sophomore Lyric Choice’s 14.17 second time in the 100-meter hurdles. Moreover, Blackshire finished with a 12.19 second time in the 100-meter dash. North Texas’ 4×400-meter relay team recorded a time of 3:45.40 with Choice, Richardson, Scott and sophomore runner Lauryn McCollum.
There were five North Texas runners who competed in the 200-meter dash: senior James Cole (21.39), sophomore Abdon Campbell (22.04), Porter (21.22), Delacruz (21.31) and Jones (21.56).
Sophomore Sydney Salinas recorded her best collegiate performance in pole vault after landing a mark of 3.76 meters. Freshmen Mary Piercy and Cody Bullard also competed in pole vault and recorded marks of 3.46 meters and 4.72 meters. Sophomore Valencia Bullock set a personal best of 12.23 meters in triple jump and marked a length of 5.04 meters in long jump.
During discus, North Texas had four athletes participate in the final day with Walker (45.86 meters), Shaffer (42.86 meters), Sralla (52.86 meters) and Maples (40.46 meters) all competing. In shot put, there were three athletes who threw with Shaffer (14.63 meters), Samaniego (14.69 meters) and Maples (13.34 meters).
UP NEXT: North Texas will travel to Texas A&M on April 27 for their final regular season track and field meet before heading into the Conference USA Championships.
Featured Image: Mean Green freshman Davonye Jones runs sprints during the first practice at UNT’s new track facility on March 25, 2019. Image by: Will Baldwin.